00:00This is CNN Breaking News.
00:03Very sad breaking news indeed, and for me very personally sad breaking news coming into the Situation Room.
00:09Ted Turner, Ted Turner, has died at the age of 87.
00:13The innovator, an icon, a legend, he revolutionized the television business by creating the first 24-hour news channel right
00:21here at CNN.
00:23And he hired me many, many years ago.
00:25Here's a closer look back at the life and legacy of one of the greatest visionaries of our time.
00:33He broke every mold. He changed the world.
00:36Known as the Mouth of the South and Captain Outrageous, Ted Turner built a media empire that changed cable news
00:43forever.
00:44I didn't have any upper limits to how far we could go.
00:48Champion, philanthropist, environmentalist.
00:51I don't know how to quit.
00:54It's not in my genes.
00:56But growing up wasn't easy for Ted.
00:59Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1938, his parents sent him to boarding school when he was just four years old.
01:06I didn't like boarding school. I wanted to be home.
01:10Ted's little sister, whom he adored, died of lupus at 17.
01:15About two years later, Ted dropped out of Brown University.
01:18He'd been studying classics until his father cut off the money.
01:23He thought I was wasting my time.
01:26So he went to work for his dad's billboard company.
01:29But tragedy struck again when his father killed himself.
01:32He went against everything that he taught me, you know, to be courageous and hang in there.
01:41Ted took over the family business and coped with the loss by working even harder.
01:46He said, set your goals so high that you can't achieve them in your lifetime.
01:51When Ted wasn't working, he turned to the sport he loved, sailing.
01:56We've got to go as fast as we can here.
01:58And won the sport's top race, the America's Cup.
02:01I had worked very hard.
02:03It took me a number of years to become a champion.
02:06He put that same drive into expanding the business.
02:09In 1970, Ted bought a struggling TV station.
02:14It was a broken down UHF television station in Atlanta.
02:18It was going to transform UHF television into this new world of satellite television.
02:24Ted renamed the station WTBS and it became the country's first super station.
02:29What Ted made happen was just as important as the Internet revolution of the 90s and 2000s.
02:36But starting out, Ted needed content.
02:39He bought the Atlanta Braves and broadcast their games nationwide.
02:43The Atlanta Braves.
02:45The Braves became America's team.
02:48When we bought them in 1976, they were terrible.
02:51By 1995, Ted and his team were World Series champs.
02:56As he built the super station, he set his sights even higher on a 24-hour news channel.
03:02I worked until 7 o'clock and when I got home, the news was over.
03:06So I missed the television news completely and I figured there were lots of people like me.
03:13People did look upon that as a foolish idea that was destined for failure.
03:19But they underestimated Ted Turner.
03:22Most of the leaders of the world thought Ted was nuts.
03:25We signed on on June 1 and barring satellite problems in the future, we won't be signing off until the
03:32world ends.
03:35We'll be on, we will cover it live.
03:38I dedicate the news channel for America, the cable news network.
03:45Take a letter, Mike.
03:47CNN aired its first broadcast on June 1st, 1980.
03:51Good evening, I'm David Walker.
03:52And I'm Lois Hart.
03:54Now here's the news.
03:55It took five years to turn a profit.
03:57I lived for 20 years in my office.
03:59He was one of us.
04:01I mean, he would be in his house coat down having breakfast in the Hard News Cafe.
04:05And we'll get better by the end of the week.
04:07Critics called it chicken noodle news.
04:09But the Gulf War would give CNN the respect it deserved.
04:14You're going to hear the bombs now.
04:15They are hitting the center of this city.
04:18It was the first time a war was broadcast live on television.
04:21And it was only on CNN.
04:24I still believe that was the greatest scoop in the history of journalism.
04:29You can see her there.
04:30Ted didn't care as much about ratings as he did about being the most trusted name in news.
04:37Ted also cared about the world.
04:39Over a 10-year period, he donated a billion dollars to the United Nations.
04:44I'm no poorer than I was nine months ago, and the world is a lot better off.
04:49And he expanded his empire, launching networks like TNT and Turner Classic Movies.
04:55In his personal life, Ted was married and divorced twice with five children
05:00before he finally met his match, Jane Fonda.
05:04She agreed to have dinner with me.
05:05And for me, it was love at first sight.
05:08I can't ever forget the reasons that made me fall in love with him.
05:12I've never met any human being that thinks the way Ted does.
05:17Ted was a visionary, a titan, even Time Magazine's Man of the Year.
05:22But in 1996, he sold his networks to Time Warner.
05:26He got almost $8 billion.
05:28I said, Ted, if you sell, you will no longer be captain of your own ship.
05:34Ted Turner.
05:36Ted.
05:37Five years later, Time Warner merged with AOL, and Ted was out.
05:42Ted used the description, I've been fired.
05:46Ted got shafted.
05:47And it hurt.
05:48Ted was more than just a company to me.
05:51It was a way of life.
05:54He lost his empire and the love of his life.
05:58After 10 years of marriage, he and Jane parted ways.
06:02But you love her still.
06:03Yeah.
06:03To this very day.
06:06To this very day.
06:07But Ted never gave up.
06:09His final act, saving the planet.
06:12He created the UN Foundation and the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
06:18On his Montana ranch, he made it his mission to save the bison.
06:22Hi.
06:23Well, you never go home, do you?
06:25Yes, I know.
06:25And he opened restaurants to ensure their survival.
06:28Ted's love of the outdoors has made him perhaps the number one environmentalist.
06:33that I've ever known.
06:35Before his 80th birthday, Ted revealed he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive disease.
06:42He spent his final years treasuring private moments, his ranch, and his family.
06:48He wants to know that when he goes out, it will be with the love of his children and grandchildren.
06:55You can never take away what he created and what he did.
06:58We have never seen a man quite like Ted Turner before on this planet.
07:05And I don't think we'll ever see another one like him again.
07:08I don't think we'll ever see another one like him again.
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